Carret Asset Management LLC Grows Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Carret Asset Management LLC raised its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,621,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,497. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $192.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.75. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.